Look Around

Back then...

It was a full minute before Billy said, "Heh, um, that was a good one bro!"

I just sat there, silently. Billy then registered that I did not set up everything.

I then said, "The scarecrow said 'No one shall leave until a descendant of our enemy is dead' what does that mean?"

"Who cares? Lets just get out of here!"

"Good idea."

We ran to the fence gate that outlined the end of our property and I imagined the stories I could tell from this. Then a second later, I realized that I might not be able to tell the tale. We both ran into the gate but a green force pushed us back.

"What the heck?!" I exclaimed. "We can't get out!" I tried to run into it 2 more times, the same result. I ran into it one more time for desperation, but that time I got a burn.

"Ouch!" I yelled.

Billy said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" I grunted, really I was not okay. The burn felt like a stove and it was slowly turning green. But other than that, I was okay.

Billy then looked from where we came from and said, "We need to think about what the scarecrow said so we can get out of here."

My intended words were, "Yeah, that's a good idea." but what came out of mouth was coughing and wheezing. Billy looked really concerned, but I just waved him off. He dropped his gaze, but I could tell he was worried.

"We need to pool what knowledge we have about our ancestors."

I nodded and said, "The coffin, it had a poem on it, do you remember?"

Billy said, "Yeah, let's think about the first line, 'Dishonored the roots of this tree are' my great-grandfather once told me about how our family was robbed of its pride and power, and the scarecrow said I was a descendant of the pykes... maybe the tree is my family tree."

"That would make sense." I nodded, "Regain thee lost pride shall be redeemed. wow, thats really bad grammar."

"I've seen worse on your school papers." Billy chuckles.

I shoot him an angry glance then continue, "That line is basically saying that the pride will come back."

"The next line is confusing." Billy says, " 'If the protector of death shall come up away' how can their be a protector of death? If there was, there would be barely any deaths."

I reply, "Maybe it isn't being exactly literal, we found the poem on the coffin, remember?"

"Yeah, coffins sort of protect the dead from being eaten by animals and other little vicious stuff. But it says,'protector of death shall come up away' we did dig up that coffin on your farm and moved it....that was a bad idea." Billy says, with a shudder.

"Focus dude, ok, the last line, 'Past shall come and regain once more' well from what the scarecrow said, we can infer that he is someone who really hated my ancestors"

"Probably." said Billy, then he frowned. "Maybe he is an ancestor of my family, since he pointed at me and said 'our'."

"And." I added, "If he is your ancestor, it says past shall come again, and since he is from the past that makes sense. As well as the part of the pride regaining."

Then we both sat in thought for a few minutes. Every once in awhile the mark on me would burn but I ignored it. I then finally said, "Well how did my family supposedly take your family's pride away anyway? I was not there."

Billy said slowly, "I think my I remember what happened though." He explained a lot so I probably missed some details, but this is what happened:

The Pykes and friends had a pretty big farm back in the late 1800s then and during that time they sold their crops to everyone in Pittsburgh, the capital of Pennsylvania, and everyone thought they were great. But then I think your family, the Batherns, showed up and showed better ways to make the crops more tasty, fresh, etcetera. So the Pykes got mad and threatened the Batherns to stop or else they would burn down their home and farm.

Instead of retaliating, the Batherns humiliated the Pykes by inviting everyone in for a contest to decide who made the better crops. Throughout all the contests the people realized that the Batherns crops were better. The cotton was smoother when finished, the strawberries were juicer, the Tree's had more usage, and in general the plants even looked better. That gave some people an itchy trigger finger. Today It seems stupid, but reputation was everything to a family way back then. The smallest details mattered.

That did not go down well with the Pykes so when the Bathern family went to sleep late, they went to burn and kill the Batherns. But the Batherns were prepared. The second the Pykes entered the farm, the Batherns dog, Golden, started barking as she recognized the scent and hated it. The Pykes started to run but Golden caught up to them, and the Batherns forced them to leave. Word got around that one famous family tried to shamefully kill another, and the town got furious. The rest of their lives the Pykes were shamed upon. But that wasnt long as their lifeline was cut short because in their sleep, the townspeople burned down the Pykes farm, with the Pykes in it. Before the burnings though, the father knew they were not going to be living long with their reputation. So he came prepared and made the family's' coffin's and made the inscription. We assumed at least. It made more sense than the family becoming zombies to make their own grave. Apparently, someone had sympathy for the Pykes and buried them.

But now they are back to avenge themselves.

Welp.